Huskers Take on Washington

NCAA Regional Finals:  No. 4 Nebraska (30-2) at No. 5 Washington (27-4)
Saturday, Dec. 13 ? Bank of America Arena ? 10:30 p.m. (central)
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats: Huskers.com and NCAASports.com
TV: ESPNU (Ch. 614; DISH Network Ch. 148; Time Warner Cable Ch. 235; Cox Cable Ch. 220)

Tonight

: A trip to Omaha is on the line, as No. 4 Nebraska meets No. 5 Washington tonight at 10:30 p.m. (central) at the Bank of America Center. The match will be carried across the state on the IMG Husker Sports Network - including B107.3 FM in Lincoln, Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha and KRVN 880 in Lexington - with Lindsay Peterson and John Baylor. Tonight’s match will be televised nationally on ESPN, as will the other three regional finals.

Both teams got to the regional final with relative ease, as Nebraska swept No. 19 Michigan, (25-13, 25-16, 25-18) in Friday’s first semifinal, while Washington swept No. 18 Utah (25-16, 25-20, 25-16) to set up the first meeting between the teams since the 2005 NCAA Championship match.

Series History vs. UW: The two teams have split their only two contests and have not met since the 2005 NCAA title match in San Antonio, a 3-0 Huskies victory. Jordan Larson and Rachel Schwartz are the only two Huskers who played in the Washington match.

In Regionals: Tonight is Nebraska’s 19th NCAA regional finals appearances, including eighth in John Cook’s nine seasons at NU. The Huskers are 10-9 all-time in regional finals. The five consecutive regional finals is the most since a five-year run between 1994 and 1998. With Friday’s win, the Huskers are 30-13 all-time in NCAA Regional action. Nebraska is now 76-23 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches, ranking second among all programs in both wins and winning percentage (.768). NU is 32-6 (.842) in the NCAA Tournament under John Cook.

Other Regional Finals: The National Semifinals will be set following today’s four regional semifinals. The winner of the Seattle Regional will take on the winner of the University Park (Pa.) Regional in one national semifinal. The other semifinal will put the Fort Collins (Colo.) Regional winner against the Austin Regional champion. Start times for the National Semifinals matchups in Omaha will be announced on Sunday.

Time          Matchup (Regional)
3 p.m.        Cal at Penn State (University Park)
5:30 p.m.   Iowa State at Texas (Austin)
8 p.m.        Hawaii vs. Stanford (Fort Collins)
10:30 p.m. NU at Washington (Seattle)
times listed are cental

Last night vs. Michigan: No. 4 Nebraska put on a serving and blocking clinic, sweeping No. 19 Michigan, 25-13, 25-16. 25-18 in the NCAA Seattle Regional semifinals Friday night. Nebraska out-blocked Michigan, 11-2, as Lindsey Licht and Amanda Gates combined for 11 blocks and 15 kills. Licht led the Huskers with six blocks, while Gates had five blocks, including a personal-best three solo stuffs, and added eight kills on .615 hitting.  NU hit an efficient .347 as a team with five starters recording at least seven kills, while no player reached double figures. Sydney Anderson guided the attack with 29 assists and a team-best 11 digs, as the Huskers hit .323 in the opener and a blistering .438 in the finale.

Nebraska, which has won its last 17 matches against Big Ten teams dating back to 1999, also dominated at the service line, racking up eight aces, including three from Anderson and two from Tara Mueller, who also had eight kills and 10 digs. NU held Michigan (26-9) to just one service ace and .100 hitting.

Tournament Quick Hits: Nebraska is hitting .339 in its three NCAA Tournament matches, well above its regular-season percentage of .271...Jordan Willberger (1.50 k/.500 pct), Amanda Gates (2.60 k/.453) and Sydney Anderson (0.90 k/.4000 are all at or above .400 for the NCAA Tournament...NU has held its three opponents to just a combined .114 hitting and just three aces in its three tournament contests.

Four Earn AVCA All-Central Region: Four Nebraska volleyball players were honored Wednesday, as they were named first-team All-Central Region by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The players included senior outside hitter Jordan Larson, junior middle blocker Kori Cooper, sophomore setter Sydney Anderson and sophomore outside hitter Tara Mueller. Nebraska’s four first-team selections were the most in the region, as all four Huskers are now under consideration for All-America honors, which will be announced on Dec. 17. It was the third honor for Larson and the first for Anderson, Cooper and Mueller.

Worth Noting
?-This is only the second time that Nebraska has been in a true road match in a regional under John Cook. The last time was in 2004, when Nebraska defeated Louisville, 3-0, in the regional semifinals.  Tonight’s match is only the third time NU has been in a true road match for a regional title and the first time since falling to Long Beach State in 1997. The only other time occurred at Illinois in 1987.

?-Nebraska is 12-1 against the NCAA Tournament field, trailing only Penn State among teams with more than 10 matches against NCAA Tournament qualifiers.

Records vs. 2008 NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Team                 Record   Pct.
Penn State        18-0         1.000
Nebraska          12-1         .923
Stanford            17-3         .850
Texas                11-2         .846
Washington     13-4         .765

?-The Huskers’ streak of 15 straight NCAA Regionals is the longest active in the country. Only three programs (NU, UCLA and Penn State) have advanced to an NCAA Regional in each of the past six years. In addition, the Huskers are playing in their fifth straight regional final, the only program in the nation to accomplish the feat.

Longest Active NCAA Regional Finals Streaks
No.     Team        Regionals         Finals
1.        Nebraska        15                   5
2.        Texas               3                    3
           Penn State       6                    3
           Stanford           3                    3
5.        Cal                    3                    2
6.        Iowa State        2                    1
           Washington    1                    1
           Hawaii              1                    1

?-The Big 12 has turned in an impressive showing in the NCAA Tournament, going 9-1 in the first three rounds. 2008 marks the first time that three Big 12 teams (Iowa State, Nebraska and Texas) have advanced to the regional finals. It is also the sixth time that multiple Big 12 teams advanced to the Elite Eight

NCAA Regional Qualifiers by Conference
No.       Conference Sweet 16       Elite 8
1.          Pac-10                 5                  3
             Big 12                 3                  3
2.          Big Ten               4                  1 

Multiple Big 12 in the Elite Eight
Year      No.      Schools
1998     2           Nebraska and Texas
2001     2           Nebraska and Texas A&M
2005     2           Nebraska and Missouri
2006     2           Nebraska and Texas
2007     2           Nebraska and Texas
2008     3           Nebraska, Iowa State and Texas

?-NU reached the 30-win plateau for the fifth consecutive year and the 20th time in school history with Friday’s win over Michigan. During the 13 years of Big 12 competition, the Huskers have reached 30 wins 10 times, while the other 10 teams in the league have accomplished the feat once - K-State in 2003. Nebraska the only school in the country to win 30 matches a year over the last five years.
?-The Huskers have swept 21 of their 32 opponents during the 2008 season.
?-The Huskers are 7-1 against ranked opponents this season, including wins against Elite Eight qualifiers Iowa State (twice), Texas and Stanford. Nebraska is 93-14 (.869) versus ranked opponents under John Cook. More impressively, the Huskers are 17-7 (.708) against top-five teams under John Cook, including a 13-3 mark over the last four years.
?-Nebraska is 16-1 in televises matches this year.
?-NU is 2-0 against the Pac-10 this year with wins over Stanford and USC. In all, the Big 12 is 6-5 against the Pac-10, including 2-0 in the NCAA Tourney.
??Nebraska’s senior class of Amanda Gates, Jordan Larson and Rachel Schwartz will go for their 127th career win tonight against Washington. The group tied the school mark for most wins in a four-year stretch in the NCAA era, originally set by last year’s senior class, with Friday’s sweep of Michigan.

Most Wins at NU over Four-Year Stretch (NCAA Era)
No.   Wins (Record)  Pct.     Years
1.      126 (126-7)        .947     2005-present
         126 (126-7)        .947     2004-07.
3.      124 (124-9)        .932     2000-03
         124 (124-10)      .925     2003-06
         124 (124-10)      .925     1998-01

??Nebraska’s .940 winning percentage this decade is the nation’s best since the start of the 2000 season.

Best Winning Percentages Since 2000 (as of Dec. 12)
No    Team                 W        L          Pct.
1.      Nebraska           280      18        .940
2.      Florida               274      30        .901
3.      Hawaii                274      34        .890
4.      Penn State         267      38        .875
5.      Stanford            256      48        .842